King Grade Transcendent Gene, Defensive Body Technique

Back in his room, Lu Yuan received an official message from the Talent Camp not long after — his Credits had been deposited.

He pulled up his student card.

Name: Lu Yuan. Student ID: 1410082. Credits: 2,393,500. Year: 1.

Nearly two million four hundred thousand Credits.

Without a second's hesitation, he logged onto the school's marketplace and tracked down the Combat Technique: Flicker.

A mere Boss Grade Transcendent Gene — yet its price tag read two million Credits.

For powerhouses at the Battle Sovereign or Battle Emperor level, a gene like this would probably be beneath consideration. The improvements it offered across the board were admittedly modest. But for Lu Yuan, none of that mattered.

If anything, he was excited to see what it would look like once he'd evolved it.

He didn't waver. He paid and purchased the Flicker Transcendent Gene on the spot.

Two million Credits gone. His balance collapsed to a bare three hundred and ninety thousand.

He made no further purchases.

He planned to hold onto the remainder and pick up a few more specialized Transcendent Genes when the time came — powerful single-target attack types, group-attack types, possibly even something in the illusion school.

Since campus deliveries were handled on-site, someone knocked at his door less than half an hour after he paid. Lu Yuan went downstairs, confirmed receipt, and sealed the black metal box containing the Flicker Transcendent Gene inside his Battle-mark Space.

Around two in the afternoon, he entered the Land of Origin.

The Beast Tide had kept him away for quite a while.

A flash of white light, and he materialized in the rented room he kept in Tianrao City.

He opened his Communication Crystal. A backlog of messages had piled up — some from Amy, some from Yeye.

He tapped Amy's thread first.

*"Big scammer, hasn't your Beast Tide ended yet?"*

*"Big scammer, you haven't logged in forever. Everything okay?"*

*"Big scammer?? You didn't die, did you?!"*

*"Wuwuwuwu... Big scammer, you died so horribly."*

Lu Yuan stared at the screen. *????*

Reading that last message, he almost buried his face in his hands.

That idiot had actually decided he was dead?!

Was he really the kind of person who could just be killed?!

He typed back:

*"Your big brother is very much alive! The Beast Tide got nasty these past few days — no time to log in."*

Then he checked Yeye's messages.

*"Lu Yuan, I've tracked down a few solid Transcendent Genes over here. All King Grade: Wind Thunder Fury, Heavenly Pivot Golden Wheel, Silver Light Battle Armor, and Mad Dragon Force. Take your pick."*

This was connected to their earlier arrangement — back when Lu Yuan had traded Civilization Inheritance Crystals with Amy and Yeye in exchange for Transcendent Genes.

His original target had been a Spatial Type or Time Type gene.

Time Type was out of the question from the start. Too rare to even exist on the open market.

Spatial Type was nearly as scarce. Yeye's family happened to have one, but it was King Grade — its value dwarfed the Civilization Inheritance Crystals he'd offered. Far too precious to ask for. He had his limits. He'd settled for other options instead.

Both Yeye and Amy had put genuine thought into their recommendations. Every gene they'd sent was solid, and every one was King Grade. Honestly, the market value of these King Grade Transcendent Genes already exceeded what he'd traded them. Neither of them had made a fuss about it; they'd simply brought the options forward.

The previous round of suggestions hadn't quite fit his needs, and between that and the chaos of the Beast Tide, he'd let it sit. Now Yeye had found another batch.

He read through the descriptions.

Wind Thunder Fury was a single-target attack gene — the name said it all: lightning and wind elemental attacks, though not pure elemental. It worked by channeling the elements through a heavy weapon like a greatsword or battle axe, making it a hybrid of elemental and brute-force offense.

Heavenly Pivot Golden Wheel was a group-attack gene that allowed the user to condense spinning golden rings and launch them at multiple targets simultaneously.

Silver Light Battle Armor was a Guardian Type gene. It gathered the power of light and formed a defensive suit of armor over the body — reportedly with exceptional defensive strength.

Mad Dragon Force enhanced raw physical power. At King Grade, the output would be considerable.

All four were uncommonly rare. All four were King Grade.

Yeye had been meticulous, ensuring that every gene's primary enhancement fell on either strength or constitution — clearly designed so that Lu Yuan wouldn't waste the boost on attributes he didn't need.

After all, as a Guardian Type warrior, his build centered on constitution. Strength amplification was also welcome, but anything else would be wasted.

Lu Yuan thought it over and chose Wind Thunder Fury.

The reason was straightforward: his offensive toolkit was thin and he needed attack-oriented Combat Techniques. Wind Thunder Fury offered two elemental components, which made it rarer than the alternatives — and gave it more potential as something to evolve down the line.

He sent Yeye a message:

*"Sorry for going quiet — the mission buried me. I'll take Wind Thunder Fury. Thank you, Yeye."*

Her reply came shortly after.

*"Sure. I'll mail it over. Give me your address."*

*"Got it."*

He passed along his Tianrao City address.

The Land of Origin had its own delivery service — a postal system native to the Land of Origin, staffed entirely by Constructs.

He hadn't been waiting long when the space around him rippled. A circular portal irised open, and a two-meter-tall white Construct stepped through.

It turned its gaze to Lu Yuan and spoke in a measured, mechanical tone.

"Origin Express. Please confirm your identity."

Lu Yuan held up his Battle-mark.

Light beams shot from the Construct's eyes and swept across the mark.

"Identity confirmed. Please sign for your package."

A golden Transcendent Gene materialized in the Construct's hand.

Gold — the color of King Grade.

Lu Yuan accepted it and took a closer look. Wind Thunder Fury, sure enough.

A quiet smile crossed his face.

Once delivery was confirmed, the white Construct stepped back through the portal. It sealed shut behind it.

Lu Yuan stood where he was, staring at the space where the gate had been, a flicker of envy stirring in his chest.

*Tearing open a spatial passage on a whim, crossing thousands of miles in an instant. That kind of power is something else.*

*I wonder... if I evolve Flicker far enough, could it ever reach something like that?*

He filed the thought away and messaged Yeye.

*"Gene received."*

*"Good. Train hard. I'm nearly at Third-rank."*

The corner of his mouth twitched.

He was a little envious, honestly. Because every time he evolved a gene, he had to re-temper it from scratch — a tax on cultivation speed that no one else had to pay. People who couldn't evolve their Transcendent Genes simply didn't need to supplement their tempering afterward. By comparison, Lu Yuan carried a constant drag on his progress.

Not a crippling one, though. His base talent was strong enough that the impact stayed manageable.

Time to get to work.

Lu Yuan left his rented room, headed to the Training Hall, reserved a Gravity Room, and got back to cultivating.

Twenty-five days later, he stepped out of the Land of Origin.

At his current absorption rate of 7,200 Fourth-tier Spirit Crystals per day, the twenty-five days had burned through roughly 180,000 in total.

For Nature's Touch and White Jade Spirit Body, that put him at nearly halfway through their tempering.

But Mechanical Control? Less than one-third. Still a long way to go.

He was beginning to suspect that pushing Mechanical Control to perfection would require upward of a million Spirit Crystals — a far steeper cost than either White Jade Spirit Body or Nature's Touch had demanded.

He didn't dwell on it. His stockpile of Spirit Power Gene Fluid was deep; he had what he needed.

Exiting the Land of Origin cost him two days of real-world time. He stepped out of his room into the living room, only to find that Si Tingfeng and the others were out.

After eating the breakfast Beji had prepared, he headed over to Si Tingyu's dormitory.

He knocked. The smart robot answered the door.

A mechanical voice: "Young Master Lu Yuan, please enter. The Master is waiting for you in the underground training room."

Lu Yuan nodded and made his way down the familiar staircase.

Inside, Si Tingyu sat cross-legged at the center of the room, eyes closed. She opened them when she heard his footsteps — golden-red irises settling on him.

"You're here."

"Yes, Mentor."

She rose. The white training clothes she wore were loose-cut, yet they did nothing to conceal the remarkable contours of her figure — least of all the striking fullness of her chest.

"I was originally going to check your Force Deflection progress after the end-of-month Combat Rankings test," she said, a trace of a smile in her voice, "but the Beast Tide threw everything off schedule. Go change — let me see where you stand."

Lu Yuan stepped into the changing room off to the side and opened the wardrobe. Si Tingyu had set aside black training clothes specifically for him. He changed, came back out, and stood before her.

Her golden-red eyes moved over him, expression composed and exacting. Si Tingyu was a disciplined person by nature, and when she shifted into teaching mode, that composure hardened into something more demanding.

"Ready?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

She moved. One step and she was in front of him, carrying a faint trail of fragrance, her pale fist driving toward his chest with a rush of displaced air that sent his hair whipping.

Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened. He crossed his arms and braced them across his chest.

Her fist connected.

**Thud.**

The impact drove him back two paces. He rode the force through his entire body — bones and muscles undulating in sequence — and bled off the power that had punched through his guard.

Si Tingyu raised an eyebrow. Faint approval moved through her gaze.

"Not bad. You're deflecting about forty percent now."

She came at him again — this time without restraint. Her whole body seemed to transform into a weapon, attacking from every conceivable angle, fast and relentless and unbroken.

As a Guardian Type warrior, Si Tingyu had inscribed nothing but dragon-type genes. Her defenses were immense, but so was her strength — fearsome to an extraordinary degree. In terms of raw combat power, she was among the most terrifying warriors one could face.

Her technique was merciless. Every angle was a blind spot; every transition came before he could breathe.

Lu Yuan gave ground steadily until his back met the wall.

Si Tingyu's fist stopped a breath from the stone beside his head.

**Boom.**

Her golden-red eyes were centimeters from his. Neither of them moved.

Then she withdrew her hand and stepped back.

"Still acceptable," she said, the faint smile returning. "You've cleared my threshold. Next — I'll teach you the defensive Body Technique. It's called Steel Body."

She straightened slightly, her voice taking on a measured instructive cadence.

"Defensive Body Technique works by unifying the entire body — muscles, bones, and even the internal organs — into a single coordinated whole. Every part of the body works in concert to redirect and absorb incoming force, translating into a direct enhancement to defensive capability. If you temper Steel Body to the point of seamless integration, your total defensive output can be multiplied by a factor of one to two. And as your physical constitution grows stronger, the multiplier grows with it."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.

After activating White Jade Spirit Body, his defense was already exceptional. If Steel Body could layer another twofold increase on top of that baseline — the result would border on unbreakable.

Si Tingyu caught the gleam in his eye and smiled.

"Let me walk you through the training method..."

With the method transferred, Si Tingyu's instruction became very hands-on — which was to say, she beat it into him.

Painful? Undeniably. But his progress was visible, almost by the hour. Painful and exhilarating in equal measure.

The day passed quickly. That evening, footsteps sounded on the staircase, and Si Tingxue descended.

Lu Yuan was flat on his back, looking more than a little worse for wear. Si Tingyu had held very little back — by her own explanation, external force transmitted through the body gave the clearest possible sensation of how to unify all its parts into a single whole.

He couldn't argue with the logic. He wouldn't have improved this fast otherwise.

Seeing Si Tingxue arrive, Si Tingyu called it: "That's enough for today. Continue tomorrow."

Lu Yuan exhaled and remained exactly where he was.

*I'm finished.*

He happened to glance at Si Tingxue just then. And for just a moment — her cherry-red lips seemed to curve, the faintest ghost of a smile passing over her face.

*????*

*Wait — what?*

*The ice sculpture herself can actually smile? Impossible.*

*It must have been my imagination.*

*There's no way she's smiling because I got beaten into the floor, right?*

When he looked again, her face was as cool and impassive as ever.

He decided he must have been seeing things.

Si Tingyu glanced at him still lying flat and smiled. "Stay for dinner."

"Sure." Lu Yuan accepted without argument.

The pattern continued the next day. Another session under Si Tingyu's thorough care, then dinner at her place once Si Tingxue arrived in the evening.

On the third day, his Light Gate recharged and he returned to the Land of Origin.

And so a rhythm settled. In the Land of Origin, he tempered his genes. In the real world, he trained Steel Body under Si Tingyu. When Si Tingyu herself entered the Land of Origin, he continued alone.

On his third re-entry, his cultivation had advanced enough that his maximum stay extended to thirty-six days — the upper limit. At that duration, he could absorb 250,000 Fourth-tier Spirit Crystals per visit, a meaningfully faster pace.

On his seventh entry, right as he was preparing to leave, Lu Yuan finally pushed Mechanical Control's tempering degree to perfection.

It had cost him over a million Fourth-tier Spirit Crystals.

The sheer scale of resources consumed was staggering even to contemplate.